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INSIDE
DHARMA
The Buddhist Newsletter Serving the Inmate and Ex-offender Sangha
"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied
up with mine, then let us work together." -- Lilla Watson, Aboriginal activist
Volume X , Issue II
Peace Be Still
By Robert Boettcher SLCJC-St. Louis
I write as a metta sort of mantra to myself. My posture
is stable where I sit with my back straight. Relaxed,
not rigid, my chin slightly tucked. I softly smile. My legs
are crossed in the lotus position, but my right knee
sticks up higher that the other because in my old age
I’m just not as limber as I once was. So, I sit as so.
This is called a Zazen session or common meditation
to most folks. I try to do this at a set time every day,
several times a day. Some say, for the best effect, you
need a quiet dimly lit place with cushions to sit on and
air-conditioning to do this right. Well I can do just fine
sitting upright on a concrete floor with my back to a
brick wall. As I close my eyes I
tune out any noise. I try to think
of your back as a stack of coins
with your head balanced on top
as if suspended by a string from
the ceiling. Shoulders relaxed I
rest my hands on my knees or
thighs, my thumbs gently
touching one another, fingers
cupped in my lap. The important
thing is not to have any tension
at all, totally relaxed. Breath,
deeply, slowly…2…3, quietly with
no sound or movement, try not
to count or talk. Silently
concentrate on breath. There may be many
distractions of all sorts, but gently return to breath.
You may need to adjust posture from time to time for
comfort or for falling over. We need to stay as still as
we can without itching or scratching. Stillness of the
body, Stillness of the mind. Control your body and
emotions by using your mind. Think of the vast sky
above. Wipe away any clouds of distraction. Maintain
a calm relaxed posture, with my mind as clear and
quiet as possible. Focus on the sensation of breath.
Abolish any emotions, softly smile. I practice this each
day even if for only a few minutes, remember to smile.
Let anything and everything go temporarily forget and
forgive everyone and just quietly clear the mind of
anything and everything except for the soft sincere
smile. Please, Peace be still. Namaste
MAR - APR
2012
Speech Practice
By Noah Toler NECC Bowling Green Mo.
Recently couple of fellow inmates pointed out that I
deal with people differently. So I spent some time
considering what guides my actions when interacting
with others. First, listen to, view and understand the
other through compassion. Second, do not try to
change people. It seems to me that the more we allow
dharma to inform our practice, we develop skillful
means to affect the Buddha’s teaching in daily life. For
starters, compassion is not the same as pity. Pity is a
judgment of the discriminating mind as to some
perceived defect in a person or situation. Compassion
is the knowing of unconditional love for all beings as
fellow sufferers. Pity looks down,
compassion looks our fellow in the
eye and says, “I know you, I am you”.
Our practices are born of the
Buddha’s premise that there is an end
to suffering. How can there be an end
of anything we do not recognize? One
of the fruits of practice is being able to
recognize our own suffering, then, to
recognize the suffering of all beings.
This recognition allows us a knowing
practice.
Through
informed
interactions, our meetings are not just
chaotic
clashes
of
atomistic
individuals. In such a way we develop
a vigorous living practice in the here and now. Without
practice, dharma remains an intellectual activity or the
contemplation of philosophers. Compassion knows
the here and now. It is an activity of the fully engaged
present. The suffering of ourselves and others is
present in the moment of our engagement. In
compassion, presently, we are able to engage others
in ways that are not only not harmful but we develop
awareness for the possibility to be of benefit. (To be
deliberate and present when I interact with others
requires effort.) The desire to change others has many
motivators. Some want to save souls; some want to
save society; some want us to be more moral, more
Godly; and some want to set us free. However
practice informs us that the prime mover is
preferences (delusion, greed and anger). In general
the desire to change others is to impose on people
and situations, our preferences and perceptions. It is a
Without practice,
dharma remains an
intellectual activity or
the contemplation of
philosophers.
Compassion knows the
here and now.
refusal to see things as is, but only to view through
tinted glasses of oughtness; i.e. to say, “that/they
ought to be…” or “Well, such and such shouldn’t be…”
Between is and ought tension (suffering) arises. This
suffering then produces harmful interactions such as
the desire to change, which will not end suffering but
water it. It is true that some, as a matter of practice,
make the commitment to work for the liberation of all
sentient beings. This is not a desire to change people.
This is a practice commitment, born of compassion, to
develop skillful means for interacting with the universe
(or being present in reality). So, rather than being
focused on others, it is on self, it is on the Three Pure
Precepts: Do no harm, Be of benefit,, Purify the mind
(or as a friend recently put it to me: purify your body,
speech and mind-speak, act and learn to think in ways
that make you and the world more peaceful). In sum, a
significant aspect of out practice is developing skillful
means of interacting with reality. In dealing with
others, we can develop the means of compassion and
acceptance. This way we are contributing to the
liberation of all sentient beings, including ourselves.
Fear Of A Buddhist Book
By Z.L. King HCC, Galesburg IL
I was blessed with a copy of a great and noble book
Guide To A Bodhisattva’s Way Of Life By Shantideva
I kept putting off the reading of this book
Because of my fear
For 12 years I have been reading excerpts
From Guide To A Bodhisattva’s Way Of Life
So I knew this book held gems for me
Yet I did not read it because of my fear
Fear that the book would cause me to change
And begin to love people
Today I finally finished reading
Guide To A Bodhisattva’s Way Of Life
Yes this book has caused me to change
And become more like the Buddha and Bodhisattvas
Dharma Transmission and Lineage
Dear friends,
Rev. Kalen McCalister, co-founder of Inside
Dharma and head of the Shinzo Zen Meditation
Center in St. Louis Is about to undergo the ceremony
of Dharma Transmission. I have to admit that I was
unaware of what this was. So I did some investigating
and found the following description which was most
illuminating. Once she receives Dharma Transmission
she will go to Japan and sit at the head of several
Monasteries in her lineage. Hopefully we will be able
to get her to write about the experience when it’s
completed. We wish her all the best on this incredible
journey. Dom - Inside Dharma Editor
While most of the world's great religions rely on the
sanctity of words to convey the Truth of their religious
doctrines, moral codes, etc., Zen Buddhism makes no
such claim as it has no such written document or
collection of documents. Instead, Zen Buddhism relies
on the concept of Dharma Transmission to "preserve"
the teachings of the Buddha. We conceive that the
nature of Ultimate Reality is received by us as a
"transmission" -- a transmission with no relevance to
written or spoken language -- and that this Ultimate
Reality is identical to the Mind of the Buddha. Dharma
Transmission can be a difficult concept to grapple
with, especially as our entire lives revolve around
language. We think with language, speak with
language, and write with language -- basically, there's
no way to escape language. Yet here is a religious
sect that says there's no other way - we've got to put
our thoughts aside entirely if we are to find our True
Nature. We Buddhists consider the thinking mind to be
a sense organ, on par with our senses of sight, sound,
smell, taste, and our tactile sense. The senses do not
define us; they are merely an aspect of our
impermanent physical nature, temporary and always
in flux. It is our True Self alone - our Buddha Nature that is absolute, unchanging and infinite: to know this
on a deeply intuitive level is to be enlightened. How
does Dharma Transmission happen? There are
several interpretations. According to the few passeddown teachings we have from our dear friend,
Shakyamuni Buddha, it happens through following the
Eightfold Path which culminates in deep reflection and
meditation. If we do the work, he said, enlightenment
would follow: the essence of his teachings would be
complete. In this sense Dharma Transmission is an
unfolding of the realization of Reality that takes place
as we delve into the
nature of our lives in
a very deep way.
When we enter the
actual
state
of
meditation our egoself disappears -our
sense
of
personal
identity
vanishes. When we
have experiences
that lead to new
awareness’s in this
state, they seem to
come "from out
there somewhere".
They are not from
us, because we our
sense
of
personal self -don't exist. The
term "transmitted"
seems perfectly natural to us. Where these
realizations and experiences come from, we can't say.
In another way, the concept of Dharma Transmission
has taken on other functions in the history of
Buddhism - of maintaining a familial lineage to our
founder, Mahayogi Gautama Siddhartha of the
Shakya clan, of maintaining a hierarchical structure in
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temples and monasteries, and of empowering
disciples to teach through the recognition of One Mind.
These alternate uses of the terminology can still serve
a practical purpose but should be considered
separately from the spiritual essence of Dharma
Transmission that happens through spiritual labor.
Maintaining Lineage
A follower of the Buddha Way may ask, how do we
know if we have received the true Dharma? The true
teachings of the Buddha? As we discussed, one way
is by following the Buddha's Eightfold Path and
experiencing enlightenment for ourselves. But
another, and often more popular way in the history of
Buddhism, is for our master or teacher to "transmit"
the Dharma to us. The Dharma might also be
transmitted to us during an ordination or other
ceremony. All of these approaches appear to have
been employed at various times in the past. These
approaches have created, through the course of
history, a complex intertwined web of connections that
can easily be traced back to our founder.
Empowering Disciples to Teach
There are numerous instances in history when a
student ripe for teaching needs a strong prod. He may
shy away for feeling unqualified, unable, or unsure of
him- or herself. She may actively avoid seeking
clerical roles in a congregation. Yet such people may
be the exact people who need to be guiding others
because of their level of understanding, their
compassion, and their humility. In such cases the
Master/Dharma teacher may (and this often happens
in private) "bestow" Dharma Transmission - a mutual
recognition of One Mind -- upon the devotee as a way
of letting him or her know that he recognizes her
spiritual achievement and believes in her ability to
protect and spread the Buddha Dharma. It is not
something the devotee waves like a flag in selfaggrandizement to enlist awe from others or to gain
congregants. The history of Buddhist lineage, tied
together with Dharma transmission, offers from a
sociological and anthropological point of view a
fascinating look into how societies and cultures can
adapt to change despite tremendous obstacles.
Buddhism has changed with the tides over the
centuries by adapting or altering meanings of
terminologies and, while this has sometimes posed
significant problems for Buddhist institutions, it speaks
to the adaptability of human nature and mankind's
unfaltering quest for deeper understanding of himself.
Dharma transmission is as valid today as it was a
thousand years ago because of our need to feel the
living pulse of Zen in our lives - on an unconscious
level we recognize that we are a unitary whole,
timeless and spaceless, as completely integrated with
the Buddha's own life as with our own. And if we look
deeper still, we find we are just as much a part of all
the teachers that guided Siddhartha and of those that
guided them, ad infinitum.
The Dragon’s Pearl - A Fable
Written by Rev. Shoken Winecoff
Abbot of Ryumonji Zen Monastery
Once upon a time there was a friendly dragon named
Gulliver. Gulliver lived in the deep ocean. He spent
most of his time playing around the surface. You
could see him splash up and down once in a while if
you were watching for him. Some people thought he
was rather mysterious. One day he encountered an
old man in a fishing boat. The old man was not afraid
of Gulliver, even though Gulliver had a ferocious
looking face and a breath that would knock your socks
off. On that day, the old man in the fishing boat told
Gulliver that there was a precious pearl at the bottom
of the ocean. Gulliver had never gone down that deep
into the ocean before. So Gulliver decided that he
would dive down and venture deep to look for the
precious pearl. When he got to the bottom of the
ocean it was dark down there. But he found that there
were many hundreds and thousands and millions of
pearls all over the ocean floor. So Gulliver with a
swoosh and a swirl scooped up in his jaws one of the
precious pearls, and came back up to the surface. He
found the old man in the fishing boat again and said,
“You told me there was one precious pearl, but they
are everywhere”. The old man said, “Yes… every
moment is a precious pearl! And there are hundreds
and thousands and millions of precious moments in a
life!” Gulliver scratched his head and let out a sigh,
“Every moment is a precious pearl?” What does that
mean?
The old man said, “Well, every moment
contains all the moments of the past, and influences
all the moments of the future!” So Gulliver had a light
bulb go off in his head and said, “Oh, I get it! Every
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moment is very precious!” And the old man said,
“Yes, and we should handle each moment with utmost
care, like taking care of a precious jewel.” Then
Gulliver said, “Well, what about when the ocean gets
scary and big waves rise up and crash down?” The old
man said, “Even these can be precious moments.
When a little dragon passes through these waves this
is the dragon gate. It’s the place when a young dragon
becomes a great creature!” Gulliver looked deeply into
the eyes of the old man. His face looked wrinkly and
his eyes looked tired. Gulliver said, “You are an old
man. You will die soon. How can this be a precious
moment?” The old man smiled and said, “Yes, but it is
truly a precious moment for my descendants. When
others see that I am gone they may be sad, but they
will rise up and take my place and this will be a great
treasure for many beings.” Gulliver swam home that
night. When he climbed into bed he let go of the
precious pearl that he was holding onto so tightly.
Gulliver knew that every moment is a precious pearl,
even the moments that sometimes crash down on
you. He pulled the covers up around his ears and said
a little prayer of thanksgiving for all his precious
moments.
And then yawned and said, “Happy
Thanksgiving” to all the other creatures of the sea.
is obvious that a belief in God or even religion is not a
prerequisite for being a good person. If that is the
case, then the question becomes, "what makes a
good person, good?" From the Buddhist perspective
basic goodness is our fundamental nature. We don't
have to join any particular religion or group to manifest
it. Tenderness of heart, fearlessness and intelligence
are basic to who we are regardless of our religion.
Many people and religions believe that this
fundamental quality is separate from ourselves. They
believe goodness comes from some external divine
source. However the truth is that these qualities are
available to us in every moment. In Buddhism this
fundamental quality is called "Buddha-nature."
Buddha-nature is our potential for enlightenment. It is
our birthright regardless of our religion. As difficult as
it is to believe even people who commit the most
unspeakable atrocities possess this basic goodness.
There is something they care about. There is some
chink in their external armor. So there is hope for
everyone. Those who act in less than enlightened
ways, or harm others do so out of ignorance and
because of the clinging, grasping nature of their mind.
Through meditation we can begin to let go of ego
clinging attachment and get in touch with our
fundamental basic goodness.
What A Little Mail Can Do
By Julius Davis Jr. FCC Farmington, Mo.
My name is Julius Davis Jr.; I am an inmate at the
south central correctional center. Dear friends and
readers, it has been hard for me being in prison and in
a state I have no family or friends in. My home is in
Chicago. It’s where I have lived all my life until I came
to Missouri and got myself into some trouble I could
not get out of. It seems as things got worse, I lost my
house, my cars, and my wife died then my
grandmother and mother died. At my mothers funeral
my father had an heart attack and it didn’t seem as
though he would make it either. I hated my life I hated
prison I hated the world. I didn’t want live anymore and
Monthly Buddhist Column
Dear Dharma Friends:
Below is a copy of my monthly
Buddhist column. This column will
appear in the Kansas City Star
newspaper on Saturday,
Lama Chuck Stanford
(Lama Changchup Konchok Dorje)
Rime Buddhist Center
Question: "How is it that many people who don't
believe in God lead just as good lives as many who
do?"
Answer: All of us know "good" people who don't
believe in God or who are not religious. Therefore, it
I gave up. All I wanted to do was die. Then one day
when I was in segregation at Farmington Correctional
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center, a woman by the name of Kalen, she was the
chaplain there and came to see me. She had heard
that my mother had just passed away. Kalen tried to
talk to me to comfort me and ease the pain I was
going through. We talked for awhile and when she left
I felt better, but I had plan to take my life a days later, I
had nothing left but pain sadness and hate! Hate is a
powerful emotion. It takes so much energy out of you.
To hate, it’s like drawing the lifer that’s in you out until
you are just a dried up prune. Well that’s how I felt.
The night I planned my suicide is a day Ill never forget.
An officer came to my cell door and told me I had mail
and as he passed the mail under my door I saw over
20 letters and cards. I could not believe I had that
much mail, not at one time. As I sat down and opened
the mail I was in shock to receive so much love from
people I didn’t know or who didn’t know me! But I felt
their love and it moved me deeply. I cried and I knew
that I could not give up. I knew I had to stop hating.
The brothers and sisters at Inside Dharma and the
Rime Center opened my eyes again with their love
and concern. I am forever in the debt of them all. Life
is what we make it, as Lama Chuck Stanford once told
me. Nothing last forever, not even bad times. They too
will pass. I look at things differently now and realize
hate can be replaced with love and joy. Thank you
Kalen and Inside Dharma, take a bow, you deserve it!
I can’t say in words how much Inside Dharma and the
Rime Center has changed and affected my life,
prayers and meditation. It’s so wonderful and I am at
peace. I send lots of prayers and wish you all well,
much success, health, happiness, peace, insight and
blessings of the Triple Gem. I love you all
former teachers?” The tenzo burst out laughing and
remarked, “My good friend from abroad! You do not yet
understand what practice is about, nor do you know the
meaning of the characters (written teachings).” Dogen
was taken aback and asked, “What are the characters and
what is practice?” The tenzo replied, “If you do not
deceive yourself about this problem you will be a man of
the Way,” and left carrying his mushrooms. A couple
months later the tenzo, now having completed his one
year assignment as head cook, heard that Dogen was at
Mount Tiantong and went there to visit him. After
exchanging pleasantries, Dogen again asked the tenzo,
“What are characters?”
“One, two, three, four, five,” he replied.
“What is practice?”
“There is nothing in the world that is hidden.”
Dogen commented many years later when he was
recording this story, that “whatever little bit I have learned
about characters and practice is largely due to that tenzo.”
When the tenzo said, “one, two, three, four, five,” he
meant “everything,” that everything around us is our
teaching, and when he said, “nothing in the world is
hidden,” he meant our practice is right here in front of us, if
we have the eyes to see it. The tenzo actually exchanged
few words with Dogen about “characters” and “practice.” It
was the actions of the tenzo, his whole-heartedness and
commitment that spoke most loudly. The tenzo’s practice
was not separate from his work as chief cook, as if the
cooking were a necessary distraction from sitting
meditation and formal study. The tenzo in the kitchen,
taking care of his tasks, was right in the middle of his
practice where “nothing in the world is hidden.”
TEACHINGS FROM
THE COOK
By Will Holcomb Shinzo Zen
Meditation Center, St. Louis,
MO
Recently we’ve been studying
Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook
with commentary by Uchiyama.
Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, went to China in
1223 in search or more authentic Buddhist teachings.
One of the first people he met there, even before he was
allowed to leave the ship, was the tenzo (chief cook) from
the monastery at Mount Ayuwang, who came onto the
ship to buy mushrooms from the Japanese merchants.
Dogen struck up a conversation with him learning that he
was 61 years of age and had walked 14 miles that
afternoon from the monastery to make his purchase so he
could prepare a special meal for the monks and staff
celebrating the beginning of spring. Furthermore, once he
obtained the mushrooms he was intending to walk back so
he could oversee preparations for the next day’s meal.
Dogen was amazed at the tenzo’s effort and asked, “But
why, when you are so old, do you do the hard work of a
tenzo? Why do you not spend your time practicing zazen
(sitting meditation) or working on koans (lessons) of
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Editor’s Notes
Dom Lupo
Dear Friends;
Due to condition beyond our control Inside Dharma is
having to discontinue its pen pal program. In an effort
to ensure this doesn’t cause any undue hardship, we
have contacted and made arrangement the following
organizations to handle our pen pal requests. You can
contact these organizations directly. Always With
Compassion, Inside Dharma
Prison Outreach Program
San Francisco Zen Center
300 Page Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Prison Outreach Program
Austin Zen Center
3014 Washington Square
Austin, TX 78705
Also I need to ask a great favor of our readers. Please
if your address changes for any reason please let us
know as soon as possible. We are a completely
volunteer staff that relies on donations to keep things
up and running. Even the smallest savings can
increase what we can do. If a newsletter is returned it
cost us double to try and get to where it needs to go.
Our newsletter is available to anyone, but if you not
incarcerated there is a $12.00 a year subscription rate.
It is always free to the incarcerated and the newly
released. But we can always use your help, any
donations to our ability to keep Inside Dharma going is
always greatly appreciated. We send out over 600
newsletters going into every state, and I like to think
that the newsletter is a vital tool for the incarcerated
trying to maintain a practice; it was for me for while I
was in. This brings me to another point. Where are
you all? I’ve said many times that this newsletter is for
you and it needs you. It needs your thought,
experiences and questions. The newsletter is here to
serve your needs but we here at Inside Dharma need
to know what those needs are. Tell us what its like to
practice inside? What do you think about Buddhism
being a way of dealing your situation? What question
about practicing might you have? What I’m saying is,
get involved with your Sangha. There are 600 of you
and I’m sure that there are more than 10 of you that
have something to say. OK, now about our next issue.
I recently was at a Dharma talk where the issue of
“respect” was discussed. What is respect and how
does it affect your practice and life. Does it bring
peace or violence? There’s lot to think about with this
one. Please have your submissions in by April 14,
2012 to make it into the next issue. The deepest bow
to all of you.
Dom, Inside Dharma Editor
??? Questions From Readers ???
Q. Why are there so many traditions or schools of
Buddhism and what tradition or religion did the
Buddha practice as he was growing up?
A. By Carol Cory
In the 2500 years since the Buddha lived, his followers
have implemented a variety of teachings which have
always been characterized by three general aims: (1)
to wake up from delusions about the nature of this
world we live in, delusions which create craving and
clinging and result in suffering, (2) to develop calmer
and more peaceful lives; (3) to become wise and
compassionate people. Buddhism has evolved into
myriad schools that can be roughly grouped into three
types: Nikaya (Theravada/Vipassana), Mahayana
(Chinese and Japanese Zen), and Vajrayana
(Tibetan). Within these groups there are many
branches and offshoots. The Buddha lived in northern
India, and within a few months of his death a council
was held which assigned his teachings to his
immediate disciples who were instructed to commit his
words to memory. By the time the teachings (sutras)
were written down, they numbered in the thousands of
pages. Buddhist teachings spread first to China, then
to other Asian countries, such as Korea, Vietnam,
Thailand, and Japan. The basic teachings remained
constant, but tended to take on the outward
manifestations and traditions of the particular culture
or country where they appeared. Buddhist teachings
are now becoming popular in the United States and
Europe. Since we are right in the middle of this
process, it’s not clear what form and rituals will
eventually take hold. One hundred years from now will
there be an American Buddhism? Does it already
exist? Siddhartha Gautama was born into a Hindu
family of the ruling class in the 6th century C.E. He
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lived in northern India where the dominant religion
was Hinduism. Ancient Buddhist texts record slightly
different versions of his life story and how he became
a Buddha. The word means awakened, and after
leaving his father’s palace and undergoing six years of
intense searching and extreme ascetic practices, he
finally broke through the illusions of his own mind and
experienced the true nature of reality. He achieved
enlightenment and became a "Buddha" - an
enlightened one, and spent the rest of his life
attempting to teach others what he realized that day
under the Bodhi tree.
Q. Why do Buddhist help others, isn't it judging
someone? What is the best way to help someone?
A. By Rev. Kalen McCalister
When you sit down and do Zazen, you realize that
you are not defined by (what my first teacher called) "a
smelly skin bag", but that we are all interdependent.
The whole world is interdependent. We cannot live
without air, water, food, love, nurturing, etc. So if you
remove that line that we commonly define as "you"
and "me", we are all of one system. To do a kindness
towards another is to do a kindness towards oneself.
It is a respect and love of all that surrounds you. As
we become aware of this moment, we begin to know
the best way to be that which helps all. At the top of
our newsletter we quote Aboriginal activist, Lilla
Watson, "If you have come here to help me, you are
wasting your time. But if you have come because
your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work
together." I would go one step further and eliminate
"your" and "my" liberation and just say liberation.
Q. Why is it that predominately Buddhist societies
have similar characteristics of crime, poverty and
disease as other societies? Is everyone born corrupt
and subject to reincarnation in order to achieve
nirvana?
individual, and when they begin to interact with each
other, personal styles and preferences quickly
emerge. Each human on the planet is the
manifestation of causes and conditions, and the
Buddha’s primary project was to show (us) how to be
free of greed, hatred, and delusion, also known as the
thee poisons, which seem to be present to a greater or
lesser extent in everyone. Predominately Buddhist
societies are made up of individuals who are all Each
human on the planet is the manifestation of causes
and conditions, and the Buddha’s primary project was
to show (us) how to be free of greed, hatred, and
delusion subject to the laws of birth and death. There
may be Buddhist temples and institutions based on
the Buddha’s teachings, but if people don’t apply them
to their lives, the cycles and patterns continue. Just as
in so-called Christian nations, many people do not
follow the actual original teachings of Jesus. It’s also
useful to keep in mind that, sadly, religion can be
corrupted and used as a method of intimidation and
repression. The liberation that the Buddha
experienced and then taught to others is an inside job.
It cannot be mandated or imposed by the leaders of
society or any other authority figure.
There is no evidence that the Buddha taught that we
are born corrupt and are subject to reincarnation. The
concept of reincarnation was prevalent in India at the
time, but his focus was to show that suffering comes
from clinging to what we think will bring happiness and
rejecting the parts of our lives that we don’t like, as
well as providing a path to the ending of suffering.
Nirvana is sometimes defined as a cooling off, an
unbinding of the mind from defilements and the mental
states of sensuality, wrong views, and ignorance
about the nature of
Each human on the planet is
our human condition.
the manifestation of causes
Re-incarnation is an
important teaching in
and conditions, and the
the Tibetan tradition
Buddha’s primary project was
of Buddhism, but this
to show (us) how to be free of
is not the emphasis in
greed, hatred, and delusion
Theravadan and Zen
schools. Sometimes
there is an encouragement to treat each moment as a
new birth.
As always we encourage
your question, comments
and contributions
SEND your letters to:
Letters to the Editor
Inside Dharma
P.O. Box 220721
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A. By Will Holcomb
If you walk into a classroom of fifty young children, it
would be easy to observe that each one is a unique
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Who is always
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